Glucose at High Altitudes

[Hamza7130]

Hi
I want to know that whether high altitudes like 6000 to 10000 feet have any role to play in causing hyperglycemia. Whenever i am at height my fasting sugar goes 15-20 points up.

 

[Robin]

Hi
I want to know that whether high altitudes like 6000 to 10000 feet have any role to play in causing hyperglycemia. Whenever i am at height my fasting sugar goes 15-20 points up.

I always get the opposite when I’m at that altitude (walking holidays in the Alps), I hypo at the drop of a hat and end up stumbling along necking jelly babies. It normally takes two or three days to acclimatise, and then I’m fine.
People’s bodies react differently to stress, though ( and it is a stress on the body, suddenly having to work harder for Oxygen) so the fact that your BG increases wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest!

 

[helli]

My only experience of being at altitude is on walking holidays. The impact of walking 7+ hours each day tended to cause my BG to lower significantly.
Have you checked your meter? I know meters become inaccurate at high altitude.

 

[Hamza7130]

I d

I always get the opposite when I’m at that altitude (walking holidays in the Alps), I hypo at the drop of a hat and end up stumbling along necking jelly babies. It normally takes two or three days to acclimatise, and then I’m fine.
People’s bodies react differently to stress, though ( and it is a stress on the body, suddenly having to work harder for Oxygen) so the fact that your BG increases wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest!

I go to live at altitudes and not just for climbing. And BG goes up only for fasting and not post parandial. It remains perfectly fine

 

[Hamza7130]

My only experience of being at altitude is on walking holidays. The impact of walking 7+ hours each day tended to cause my BG to lower significantly.
Have you checked your meter? I know meters become inaccurate at high altitude.

It is giving correct readings for post parandial readings. Plus i live at altitudes and not do much of climbing. So if i do physical activity it obviously reduces sugar levels. Problem is only with fasting readings.

 

[grovesy]

I suggest you do a forum search of Dawn Phenomenon, it is not spefic to altitude but is fairly commonproblem.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Hamza7130

I've only ever heard of hypos at high altitude, but this blog post (not medical advice, but a registered dietician who lives with T1) suggests some possible causes of high BG at altitude too

The Altitude Highs and Lows – How high Altitude may affect Blood Glucose

Few things feel better than summiting an epic peak or racing down a mountain on skis, and few things feel worse than a bouncing blood sugar forming jagged peaks across your cgm monitor and ruining …

type1traveler.com